The late Pope John Paul II frequently invoked Dignitatis Humanae as one of the foundational documents of contemporary Church social teaching. In this timely new edited collection, Catholicism and Religious Freedom: Contemporary Reflections on Vatican II's Declaration on Religious Liberty, Kenneth L. Grasso and Robert P. Hunt have assembled an impressive group of scholars to discuss the current meanings of one the Vatican's most important documents and its place in the Church. Dignitatis Humanae understands itself as bringing 'forth new things that are in harmony with the old.' Today, forty years after its publication, the precise nature of these 'new things' and their relationship to 'the old' remain among the most important pieces of unfinished business confronting Catholic social thought. The theological issues brought forth in Dignitatis Humanae go to the heart of the contemporary debate about the nature, foundation, and scope of religious liberty. Here, the contributors to this volume give these considerations the serious and sustained attention they deserve.

Kenneth L. Grasso is professor of political science at Texas State University - San Marcos. Robert P. Hunt is chair of the political science department at Kean University.

Chapter 1 IntroductionChapter 2 Dignitatis Humanae: The Freedom of the Church and the Responsibility of the StateChapter 3 Two Concepts of Religious Liberty: Dignitatis Humanae v. the U.S. Supreme CourtChapter 4 Dignitatis Humanae and the Development of Catholic DoctrineChapter 5 Dignitatis Humanae, the Catholic Concept of the State, and Public MoralityChapter 6 The Promised Time of Dignitatis Humanae: A Radical Protestant PerspectiveChapter 7 Persuaded, Not Commanded: Neo-Calvinism, Dignitatis Humanae, and Religious FreedomChapter 8 On Proposing Truth and Not Imposing It: John Paul's Personalism and the Teaching of Dignitatis HumanaeChapter 9 An Unfinished Argument: Dignitatis Humanae, John Courtney Murray, and the Catholic Theory of the StateChapter 10 The Architecture of Freedom: John Paul II and John Courtney Murray on Religious Freedom